New road crossing at Nantwich primary school welcomed by parents

Parents and youngsters are celebrating a new zebra crossing outside a Nantwich primary school after years of campaigning.

Cheshire East Council finally installed the crossing on Wellington Road by St Anne’s Primary during the half-term break.

And for mums like Rachel Greenwood, it couldn’t come soon enough for her children Thomas and Niamh (pictured)

Parents spearheaded a long-fought campaign for a crossing and replacement patrol person after the previous one retired.

But for almost two years nothing was put in place, and parents feared lives were at risk  trying to get across the busy route.

After Nantwichnews highlighted the problem in March, local councillors pushed Cheshire East for action.

Finally, funds were set aside and engineers arrived last week to install the crossing while resurfacing other parts of Wellington Road near the junction with Park Road.

Rachel said: “There was a sense of excitement and relief at school at finally being able to cross Wellington Road without having to dodge the traffic and wait in the middle of the road for a sympathetic driver to let you cross.

“Parents were saying how much better it was to be able to stand at the side of the road, knowing that the traffic would stop.

“One said to me ‘I can’t believe we have waited so long. It just seems so logical to have a crossing outside a school on a main road’.

“Another said ‘It’s just luck that there hasn’t been a serious accident here’.

“The new crossing is also preventing cars from parking on the pavement directly outside the school, which had added to the congestion in the area.”

Cheshire East Council is still waiting to connect an electricity supply for the crossing beacons.

“Given the crossing is in the place where people used to cross anyway, it’s impossible to tell them not to use it!

“Hopefully this will be rectified in the next few days,” added Rachel.

St Anne’s Primary has also been running a “walk to school” week on return from half-term to celebrate the crossing.

“The school gave out high-vis vests to all children who walked to school to make them more visible with Winter coming,” said Rachel.

“And thanks for Nantwichnews‘ continued support on this story. This latest campaign has been running for more than three years, following on from several failed campaigns in the past.

“It has taken a long time to achieve something most people would consider to be a obvious priority. We are grateful for the support of local councillors in guiding us.”